Pacers players respond to Donald Sterling's racist remarks

Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling sits courtside at the NBA basketball game between the New York Knicks and the Los Angeles Clippers in Los Angeles on Sunday, April 4, 2010. On Saturday, April 26, 2014, the NBA said it is investigating a report of an audio recording in which a man purported to be Sterling makes racist remarks while speaking to his girlfriend.(Photo: Danny Moloshok AP)

Predictably, the Pacers' locker room discussions Sunday afternoon centered on the controversy that has become a black eye for the Los Angeles Clippers.

The players debated the alleged remarks made by Clippers owners Donald Sterling to his girlfriend, in which the real estate tycoon purportedly told her, "It bothers me a lot that you want to broadcast that you're associating with black people …" before he later asks her to "not bring them to my games."

Veteran Indiana forward David West has already shared his thoughts on the matter, but following Monday's shootaround, and before the Pacers are set to host Atlanta in Game 5 tonight at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, a few of his fellow starters chimed in with their thoughts.

If they were in the situation the Clippers were in – in the midst of a first-round playoff battle – what would be their course of action?

"I wouldn't have played," said Pacers point guard George Hill. "If it was our owner that had done that, my season would be over. For me, personally, it's bigger than money, bigger than basketball. It's a great opportunity to take a stand to let people know that we're not just athletes, we're human beings just like you guys."

Before Sunday's Game 4 against Golden State, the Clippers players turned their warmups inside out before the game as a symbol of protest. (The Warriors won, 118-97.)

"Even though you flipped your jersey, you still got Clippers on the front," Hill said. "At the end of the day, you're going back to reality. I think the bigger stand would've been, 'We're not playing. This is unacceptable.'

"Everyone has their different opinion. Some (of my teammates) said they still would've played. I'm on the point. The point needs to get across that it's not acceptable. I wouldn't want to be associated with anybody like that, and I wouldn't want to work for anybody like that."

Roy Hibbert said he feels for the situation the Clippers are facing.

"It's a really sick situation," Hibbert said. "I'm happy they went out there and competed. A lot of people say they shouldn't have played, but I feel like you gotta think about the people that put time into this besides the players – the coaches, the trainers, the people that work as vendors up in the arena, people that work in parking. If (the team doesn't) play, the (other people) don't get to eat."

If the Pacers had faced a similar situation, Hibbert said, they would've taken it to a team vote. Whatever the majority declared, he said, he would have followed suit.

"You play for the team," Hibbert said. "This is a very hot topic. We were having, like, huge back-and-forths in the locker room yesterday just going over that. I feel one way. Some people feel like your pride (has to) cost something. At the same time you gotta think about the people that put time and effort in the season besides yourself.

"Some guys would've played, some guys wouldn't have played, some guys said they would have been at home. I say: If you don't play this playoff round or the next one, what are you going to do next year? He's still going to be the owner."

(Photo: Mark J. Terrill AP)

Paul George's sentiments mirrored Hibbert's. Difficult as it may have been, George said he would have played.

"It's tough for (the Clippers), I feel for those guys, a lot of friends, guys I looked up to as well as the coach on that team," said George. "We kinda feel the same way. At this point in the year it's much bigger, it's about us, our legacy, everything that we put into a year to win a championship.

"A lot of us felt that it was only right to continue to go on and finish this year off. But I feel them on them being together as far as them taking off their jerseys and flipping them inside out and making a stance that way."

George said he has not talked with former teammate and mentor Danny Granger, who spent his first nine years with the Pacers before a deadline trade this season eventually landed him with the Los Angeles Clippers.

Then again, George said, he doesn't need to hear from Granger. He said he knows him well enough.

"I know how Danny feels about it," George said. "Knowing Danny, he's pissed about the situation. He's a very vocal person, and he likes to share what's on his mind. So I know it's nothing pretty."

George – as well as his teammates – said how privileged they feel to play for an organization like Indiana's and for owner like Herb Simon.

Simon released a statement Monday afternoon: "I want our players, our coaches and everyone in our community to know that I believe statements attributed to Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling are appalling, offensive and totally contrary to my core beliefs and everyone in our entire organization. I am confident that Commissioner Adam Silver, who will speak (Tuesday), and his staff will exercise due diligence on behalf of the National Basketball Association, its players and our fans and arrive at a solution that addresses the seriousness of this situation."

The Pacers players are thankful they don't have to face what the Clippers are facing, especially in the midst of a back-and-forth first-round playoff series. They're happy they can simply focus on basketball.

"I'm glad it wasn't this team, most definitely," Hill added. "I'm an athlete just like them. As of all of us, it doesn't just affect the Clippers. It affects every athlete, every NBA player, every NFL player, so it affects us all. They're not in it alone."

The hypothetical was finally posed to George: If something similar had happened here, could he continue playing for the Pacers?

"I would want to be out of here," George said. "More than that, I would want (the owner) to be out of here first."